Top 10 Public Health and Social Justice Media Bites of 2024

See the top 10 media bites from 2024, compiled by PHI’s Berkeley Media Studies Group and originally published on their site.

For public health professionals and communicators focused on equity and justice, this year, in many ways, was overwhelming. In the wake of the election, we face deep uncertainty and an environment more hostile to the future we long for. At the same time, we are met with communities and advocates across the country renewing our hope, our energy, and our steadfast commitment to cultivating a better world for everyone — no matter who you are or where you live.

These efforts remind us that social change takes time and can follow different trajectories in different places. As George Monbiot and Peter Hutchison have written, “If we were to imagine that transformative political change took place in a linear, gradual, and granular fashion, there would be nothing to hope for, and we might as well give up and go home. But it doesn’t work this way. It proceeds by means of sudden ruptures.”

Each community organizing gathering, each filled mutual aid request, each passed local ballot measure furthering public health — these are the sudden ruptures creating change in communities across the country and across the world. They are the sustaining, life-giving efforts that will continue to move us forward no matter the political conditions we face. They remain — and so does our hope.

Throughout the year, as staff members monitor the news, we hold on to quotes that reaffirm our hope for the future. These media bites — pulled from news articles, op-eds, and social media posts — motivate us to push forward, challenge us to consider perspectives different from our own, or inspire us to imagine the kind of world we’d like to see.

In keeping with BMSG’s annual tradition, we have curated a list of our favorite media bites from the past year. Our top picks are below, along with our reasons for including them. Enjoy the list, and share your own favorites with us on social media.

Top 10 media bites

Why we like it: With this quote, Clifford challenges “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” ideology and individualistic framing, pulling back the lens to invite a conversation about the systems and structures that hold people down.

Why we like it: The pithy and powerful juxtaposition in this quote elevates values of health and safety, showing that you don’t need a lot of words to make a strong argument.

Why we like it: Assemblymember Chris Holden deeply humanizes a topic that’s often treated as a data point, divorced from its impacts on workers’ real daily lives. Further, it speaks to the value of interconnection, displaying how people’s economic well-being shapes the health and well-being of those around them.

Why we like it: Although data often enhances storytelling, numbers don’t always capture the full story. They require context to make them meaningful. This quote is a compelling example of social math, “the practice of using relatable comparisons to make large numbers comprehensible. ”

Why we like it: With this quote, Kim Chua employs asset-based framing, a narrative framework that uplifts people’s strengths, aspirations, and contributions, rather than their challenges. This type of framing empowers and invests in the folks and communities whose stories are covered in the news. Further, Chua, a person with disabilities and disability activist, is an authentic voice — someone whose perspective is grounded in lived experience.

Why we like it: This quote brings human agency to the forefront. Too often, disasters get portrayed as inevitable. But when we see the role humans play, it’s easier to envision community-led solutions. As Van Breda goes on to say, “We can rebuild the same vulnerabilities by relying only on traditional technology, engineering and materials, or we can embrace innovation and rebuild communities to be safer and more robust in the face of future shocks and stresses.

Why we like it: News reporting about tech industry policies and practices often feels abstract for those not steeped in that world. Here, Chester expertly uses a vivid metaphor to capture unethical corporate behavior and hold Meta accountable for targeting teens.

Why we like it: The author concisely and eloquently highlights the crucial role — and responsibility — of government in supporting community well-being.

Why we like it: Much news coverage about gun violence focuses on interventions after the fact, which can lead people to think that such violence is inevitable. In this media bite, Dr. James Burch disrupts that pattern by elevating prevention as an important public health solution to firearm violence that deserves deep investment.

Why we like it: With this quote, Jasmine Butler reminds us of the collective power we hold and re-frames voting as just one action within our civic lives. The can-do spirit Butler exhibits is vital to our interconnected health, lives, and futures.

Originally published by Berkeley Media Studies Group